National Litigation Hotline

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held that a class of employees alleging that defendant Mohawk Industries hired illegal workers in a conspiracy to lower wages for all employees and cut back on workers' compensation claims may proceed with their lawsuit. Williams v. Mohawk Indus. Inc., 2005 WL 1355512 (11th Cir. June 9).

Four Mohawk employees filed suit in early 2004 on behalf of a potential class of nearly 1000 hourly employees against Mohawk, alleging that the company and third-party temporary staffing agencies and recruiters engaged in conspiracy to violate federal law. Specifically, the employees claimed that Mohawk and the other entities conspired within the meaning of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO),to violate immigration laws by harboring illegal workers, destroying documentation, and accepting false documents (such as fake drivers licenses) from job applicants as proof of employment eligibility. Some illegal workers who left the company were urged by Mohawk to return; others who had left returned to Mohawk under different names. The workers further alleged that the purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress wages and reduce workers' compensation costs at the company's Summerville, GA, plant. Mohawk moved to dismiss the plaintiffs' conspiracy claims, but the trial court refused. The trial court also permitted the plaintiffs to proceed with an unjust enrichment claim based on wages and dismissed a claim relating to unjust enrichment arising out of the employees' workers' compensation allegations. Mohawk appealed the decision of the trial court.